Correctional facilities are structured to house prisoners that have been convicted of crimes. The job that the correctional officers have is considered a highly stressful job and usually goes unnoticed by society. A correctional officer's job never ends; they work long hours at times and put up with more problems than the average police officer working the streets. A person eighteen years of age or older that is hired at a correctional facility will get about two weeks to a month of training as a cadet. A cadet's job is to focus on the correctional officer and learn what that correctional officer is teaching them. This is the first of many times that the cadet will come in contact with prisoners. The cadet's will learn the basic fundamentals while in this training mode such as; how to count prisoners, how to fill out the daily paper work, and how to find and discover contraband. The most important thing a cadet will learn is that once they become certified correctional officers their duties will be; to protect the public, protect the prisoners, protect the staff members, and protect state property. .
Once the Basic Correctional Officer Training school opens and the cadets are in the training at the Tift College in Forsyth, Georgia, they are given a series of test. The written test, which takes about a couple hours to complete and doesn't have any questions pertaining to corrections usually takes place in the morning of the first day. After the test, the cadets that passed will be placed into classes and be given a class leader. Those that are serving or who have served in the military are looked at first in most cases. Once the cadets are placed in their classes the next test will be the fitness test which involves push-ups, sit-ups, and a mile run. The first test is to see where the cadet is in personal fitness. The cadet will learn how to march informations, how to properly wear the uniform, how to shoot the weapons that he or she will have to carry at some point in this career, and how to perform the role of a correctional officer by the policies and procedures set forth in the training manual.
